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Lighting the night (but not too much!)

Updated Nov. 22 with new photos

There are a seemingly infinite number of outdoor light fixtures to fit our existing 3″ diameter lamp posts. But when you narrow the search to Dark Sky compliant lights, the list suddenly becomes quite short.

Our search for new lighting includes an attempt to find a fixture style that would complement our mid-century modern homes (and original bollard light fixtures).

Ted and Susan (Unit 28) are in touch with commercial fabricators who may be able to provide exactly what we’re looking for. Gene (Unit 19) previously served on the lighting committee and has some sketches/photos he’d like to share.

If you’ve seen something you like in your travels, please go to the share your photos page so we can add them to our gallery, or add a comment below.

For a detailed description of different lighting types, please check out our outdoor lighting page

This is the Acclaim lamp from Amazon, $94.

Style: Transitional
Finish: Architectural Bronze

We installed one at Unit 14 with a 40-watt equivalent soft wide clear bulb and the owners really like it.

One observation: It feels a bit fragile.

  • Acclaim lamp daytime
  • Acclaim lamp nighttime

This one’s a heavy-duty metal and glass marine light that can withstand anything mother nature throws at it– for about $30!

It’s not strictly Dark Sky compliant, but with a low-wattage soft white clear bulb it throws off a nice warm glow that’s just enough to light the walkway at Unit 8.

We just discovered the manufacturer makes a similar fixture with a 10-inch hood – which could help us get closer to dark sky standards. We’ve ordered a couple to evaluate.

  • Greenfield 4-tier path light with 6″ diameter hood in daylight
  • Greenfield 4-tier path light with 6″ hood at night
  • Greenfield 4-tier path light (with smaller base)

Here’s one we’re trying out at Unit 10.

The Pagoda light is made entirely of plastic and we’re curious how it will look after the winter season.

We put a warm white, 2 watt-equivalent LED bulb in it and it gives off just enough light to illuminate the walkway steps without blasting light at the neighbors.

  • Pagoda light daytime
  • Pagoda light nighttime

This fixture is solid, made of heavy-gauge metal with a thick glass shade that slides down over a traditional screw-in bulb.

It mimics the mid-century modern style of the original Incline Pines fixtures and we’re testing it out now at Unit 17.

EERU light fixture, $89

This hooded lamp is advertised as Dark Sky compliant and the review on Amazon seem to confirm that.

But there are also some complaints about the build quality.

We haven’t actually gotten our hands one one, though.

Dark Sky hooded lamp, $94

This farmhouse-style lamp is also said to be Dark Sky compliant.

But we wonder if it’s robust enough for High Sierra weather.

Dark Sky “farmhouse” lamp, $99

6 thoughts on “Lighting the night (but not too much!)”

  1. Anonymous

    Great stuff, well written.. Thanks! I’m leaning toward the ‘Dark Sky hooded lamp’ myself, but jury is still out.

    1. Incline Pines HOA

      Thanks! We’ve added a few more, and the list will continue to grow till we find the “perfect one.”

  5. Anonymous

    The pagoda/marine lights do not provide as much light on the path as the existing lamps. Some of the posts on property are very far apart so we need to maintain or improve the existing path lighting to keep the paths safe at night. I have a proposal that provides more light on the path than existing lights and is also dark sky compliant.

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